Department for Transport

Trains: Sanitation

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they take any steps to monitor whether lavatories on franchised train operator services are in working order throughout train journeys; whether any sanctions have been imposed on any franchisee as a result of that monitoring in the last two years; and if so, what those sanctions were.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We are investing record amounts in the railways in order to give passengers better journeys. We expect the industry to deliver the best possible customer experience every day, including the provision of appropriate toilet facilities.Whilst there are no regimes that separately monitor lavatory quality provided on trains by franchised train operators, the Invitation To Tender for the new Greater Anglia franchise is piloting three challenging customer service targets to be monitored through mystery shopper exercises and passenger surveys. One of these Key Performance Indicator (KPI) targets is “presentation of facilities”, which includes questions about “the cleanliness of the toilet facilities” and “the condition of on board toilets” amongst other aspects. Financial penalties will apply if the KPI targets are not met. Various quality of service regimes exist in other Franchise Agreements for monitoring and managing overall train interior quality, some of which carry financial penalties. The National Rail Passenger Survey also reports specifically on “On Train Toilet Facilities” for every operator in its twice yearly survey.No sanctions have been imposed specifically in regard to train toilets.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Sleeping Rough: Greater London

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the number of rough sleepers in London.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: This Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society. One person without a home is one too many. That is why since 2010 we’ve invested more than £500 million to prevent and tackle homelessness in England. In London, we have given the Mayor £34 million to deliver pan-London rough sleeping services, with an extra £8.5 million for this work in 2015/16.DCLG publishes regular statistics on rough sleeping. These are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/homelessness-statistics. The latest figures, for 2014, are attached.More rough sleepers are being found and helped thanks to our investment. Our measures include supporting the roll-out of No Second Night Out across England through the Homelessness Transition Fund. In London, two-thirds of rough sleepers come off the streets after a single night. We have also commissioned the pioneering StreetLink service, which since its launch has helped over 14,500 rough sleepers by connecting them to local support services and avoid becoming entrenched in a life on the streets.We are committed to do more to improve services for homeless people with complex needs. Our investment includes £5 million for the world’s first homelessness Social Impact Bond, which is reaching 830 entrenched rough sleepers in London.



2014 Rough Sleeping Statistics
(PDF Document, 3.23 MB)

Homelessness: Greater London

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current provision of shelter for homeless people in London.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: This Government is committed to protecting the most vulnerable in society. One person without a home is one too many. That is why since 2010 we’ve invested more than £500 million to prevent and tackle homelessness in England. It is for London boroughs to determine what homelessness services are required to best meet the needs of their local area, including provision of suitable accommodation. We have given the Mayor of London £34 million to deliver pan-London rough sleeping services, with an extra £8.5 million for this work in 2015/16. Our measures include supporting the roll-out of No Second Night Out across England through the £20 million Homelessness Transition Fund, and commissioning the pioneering StreetLink service. In London, two-thirds of rough sleepers in London come off the streets after a single night.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Passports

Lord Browne of Belmont: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many UK emergency travel documents were issued to overseas applicants in each month since January 2013.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The table below provides the total number of UK Emergency Travel Documents issued to overseas applicants from January 2013 to October 2015.MONTH201320142015JANUARY1,8092,0361,687FEBRUARY1,7352,0301,727MARCH2,0782,6382,138APRIL2,4173,9612,237MAY2,5573,9472,470JUNE2,8855,2383,208JULY3,6545,3513,647AUGUST3,4933,9703,542SEPTEMBER2,8083,3463,207OCTOBER2,2622,4582,520NOVEMBER1,8421,766DECEMBER2,4512,429

Egypt: Human Rights

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the change in the state of human rights in Egypt since July 2013.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: More political progress is essential for Egypt's long-term stability. This includes freedom of the press, as well as freedom of expression in all its forms. We also want to see better protection of Egyptians' constitutional rights and more space for non-governmental organisations and civil society. Ministers and officials regularly raise our concerns with their Egyptian counterparts. When the Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron), met President Sisi on 5 November they spoke about the need for political progress in Egypt as the essential foundation for Egypt's long-term stability. Further details of our assessment are available in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s 2013 and 2014 Human Rights and Democracy Reports. Case studies on Egypt from both Reports are attached.



Updates on Egypt from FCO HRDD report
(Word Document, 23.13 KB)

India: Religious Freedom

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 4 November (HL2946), what advice they have given to the government of India about tackling the rise of attacks on religious minorities by Hindu nationalists in India.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are concerned by recent attacks on religious minorities by Hindu nationalists in India. The British High Commission in New Delhi regularly discusses the treatment of religious minorities with the Indian National Commission for Minorities and with state governments across India. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), also personally discussed the issue of religious minorities with the Indian Minister of External Affairs, General V K Singh on 5 November.India has a strong democratic framework, which guarantees human rights, including minority rights, within its constitution. However, it also faces numerous challenges relating to its size, social and economic development. We welcome Prime Minister Modi’s reaffirmation that he governs for all Indians and his commitment to inclusive development. We will continue to work collaboratively with his government on a range of important issues, including the promotion and protection of minority rights.

India: Religious Freedom

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to raise the issue of increased violence against minorities with Prime Minister Modi during his visit to the UK.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Human rights were discussed during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the UK. The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), also personally discussed the issue of religious minorities with the Indian Minister of External Affairs, General V K Singh on 5 November. India has a strong democratic framework, which guarantees human rights, including minority rights, within its constitution. However, it also faces numerous challenges relating to its size, social and economic development. We welcome Prime Minister Modi’s reaffirmation that he governs for all Indians and his commitment to inclusive development. We will continue to work collaboratively with his government on a range of important issues, including the promotion and protection of minority rights.

India: Human Rights

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to raise the issue of the abuse of human rights in Kashmir and Punjab with Prime Minister Modi during his visit to the UK.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are aware of allegations of human rights abuses in Kashmir, and of recent communal violence in Punjab. We are clear that any allegations of human rights abuses should be investigated thoroughly, promptly and transparently. Human rights were discussed during Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the UK and we welcome his reaffirmation that he governs for all Indians.

India: Pakistan

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to discuss possible solutions to the Pakistan–India tensions on the de facto border, and the resolution of the Kashmir conflict, with Prime Minister Modi during his visit to the UK.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Our longstanding position on Kashmir is that it is for India and Pakistan to find a lasting resolution to the situation in Kashmir, taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. It is not for the UK to prescribe a solution or to act as a mediator. We encourage both sides to maintain positive dialogue, but the pace and scope of this is for them to determine.

Burma: Political Prisoners

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of Amnesty International’s report highlighting an increase in the number of political prisoners in Burma, what steps they are taking to raise the cases of those prisoners, and to promote the rule of law and the need for reform to meet proper standards of justice in Burma.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We have welcomed the release of hundreds of political prisoners under the current Burmese government. But we have also spoken out vociferously about the worrying tempo of arrests, detentions and sentencing of political activists in the lead up to the elections on 8 November.We have regularly raised our concerns with the government of Burma at the highest levels. Most recently, the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Devon (Mr Swire), raised this issue directly with the Minister for the President’s Office, U Aung Min, during his visit to Burma in July. Officials from our Embassy in Rangoon meet regularly with civil society on this issue and we lobby on individual cases. We also raise our concerns publicly in our Annual Report on Human Rights and in multilateral fora such as the UN General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, where the UK has co-sponsored Resolutions calling for the unconditional release of all political prisoners. We will continue to work with the incoming Burmese government to make progress on this important issue.

Burma: Religious Freedom

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of Burma about the enactment of four race and religion laws; what discussions they are having with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy about those laws; and what they are doing to monitor and counter the role of religious extremism in Burma’s political life.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We have been concerned by the increase in religious intolerance in Burma. This has been evidenced starkly in the four discriminatory race and religion laws, but also by restrictions on the Rohingya community, their disenfranchisement from the 8 November elections, the rise of Buddhist nationalism, hate speech and anti-Muslim violence. We have raised our concerns about the four laws in detail with the Burmese authorities both bilaterally and in company with our partners in the EU, and will continue to do so with any incoming government. Our representations on the four laws in Burma have focussed on the government and parliament who proposed, introduced and approved these bills, rather than with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party which opposed the laws. We will continue to monitor this concerning trend and raise our ongoing concerns with any incoming administration following the election.

Burma: Students

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to ensure the welfare of the two Burmese students who were arrested shortly after visiting the UK on a programme designed to build representative student unions in that country.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We remain in contact with the four Burmese students who visited the UK in May and are monitoring the case of Zayar Lwin who was arrested on 7 July after participating in a protest rally at the end of June. Two others have been charged in absentia, but not arrested. More widely, we have called for all remaining student protestors to be released from prison and for repressive legislation still on the statute books to be amended. Our Embassy in Rangoon closely monitors the cases of political prisoners and student protestors who have been charged and remain in detention. Representatives from our Embassy in Rangoon attended the most recent trial hearing in Thuyawaddy on 13 October of the students arrested following the Letpadan protests in March.

Georgia: Television

Lord Harries of Pentregarth: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any representations to the government of Georgia about its actions towards the independent tv station Rustavi 2.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: In response to developments in the legal case concerning the Rustavi 2 TV station, the UK and other EU Member States' Missions released a joint written statement on 6 November with the Embassy of the United States of America in Georgia, which said:"The Delegation of the European Union, in agreement with the Heads of Mission of the EU Member States in Georgia, and the Embassy of the United States of America express our concern related to the appointment of a new management to the Rustavi 2 TV company.In light of the recent interim decision of the Constitutional Court and considering that the substantial judgment of the first instance court in the Rustavi 2 case does not envisage immediate enforcement, the preventive measures adopted on 5 November raise serious questions about the independence of the judiciary and the actual degree of freedom of the media in Georgia.As our respective Missions have publicly stated many times, freedom of media and independence of the judiciary are essential foundations of a democracy, and diverse opinions should be encouraged in democratic societies. We call on all political actors to refrain from any step or statement that could prevent the Georgian judiciary from ruling dispassionately on this case.The government and judicial institutions need to uphold the principles of media freedom and political pluralism that are an integral part of Georgia’s declared aspirations.We will continue to monitor developments closely and raise concerns with all relevant parties as appropriate.”Our Ambassador in Tbilisi has also held discussions with senior members of the Georgian government and will continue to engage on this issue, bilaterally as well as with EU and other concerned partners.

Papua: Press Freedom

Lord Harries of Pentregarth: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether reporters are now allowed to enter West Papua; and if not, what representations they are making to the government of Indonesia to allow access to the press.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We welcome the Indonesian government’s commitment to improving the situation in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. This includes President Joko Widodo’s visit in May, when he granted clemency to a number of prisoners and announced the lifting of travel restrictions for foreign journalists. Since May, a number of foreign journalists have successfully visited and reported from Papua and West Papua.

Darfur: Sexual Offences

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what efforts are being made to tackle rape and sexual and gender-based violence in the Darfur region of Sudan, in the light of the previous attacks on women and girls in that region.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We continue to press the Government of Sudan to tackle sexual and gender-based violence. We raised the situation with the Director of Human Rights at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in late October. At the UN, the UK led on Security Council Resolution 2228 which called on all parties to the conflict in Darfur to make and implement specific and time-bound commitments to combat sexual violence. At the Human Rights Council in September we supported the Sudan resolution which condemned violations or abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law with specific reference to sexual and gender-based violence. In addition, UK-funded project work has provided support to over 150 survivors of rape in Darfur and contributed to the successful prosecution of members of the police and armed forces. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Exports

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to support growth in UK exports in the light of recent reports from the British Chambers of Commerce that growth in orders for export has slowed.

Lord Maude of Horsham: Last week, we launched the new Exporting is GREAT marketing campaign which aims to inspire and support 100,000 additional exporters by 2020. This will run for five years as part of the world-renowned GREAT campaign and presents real-time export opportunities across various media and digital channels to UK businesses. We will ensure that in future the whole of Government isengagedin providing support forexports.

Department for International Development

Refugees

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to assist the organisations and volunteers in the UK taking action to help refugees (1) in the Calais area, (2) in the Dodecanese islands, and (3) elsewhere in Europe.

Baroness Verma: The UK has been at the forefront of the response to the crisis in Syria and the region. The UK has pledged over £1.12 billion, our largest ever humanitarian response to a single crisis. We are the second largest bilateral donor after the US and have done more than any other European country.The UK’s priority is to stop the deaths of migrants making perilous journeys. We believe the right approach is to support people to stay in a place of safety in their home or host countries. To this end we are increasing our work to support longer term stability and resilience-building inside Syria and in neighbouring countries.We are providing £15 million to organisations working in Europe, which includes immediate humanitarian support to migrants and refugees who have made the journey to Europe. Our package of support includes life-saving aid to protect the most vulnerable people, as well as support to governments in managing registration in Europe and the Western Balkans.

Department for Education

Languages: Teachers

Baroness Coussins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many additional modern foreign language teachers they estimate will be needed in order to achieve the target of 90 per cent of mainstream pupils achieving the English Baccalaureate by 2020.

Lord Nash: The proposals in the English Baccalaureate consultation launched on 3 November imply an increase in the numbers of teachers of languages needed. The EBacc-related increase is over and above the additional teachers needed to keep up with the rise in the secondary school pupil population.We will forecast the demand for additional Modern Foreign Language teachers following the conclusion of the consultation. This will give us a better understanding of how schools plan to respond to the resulting workforce requirements from 2017/18.The Department does this, in part, by adding policy assumptions into the Teacher Supply Model (TSM), which informs the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) targets each year.More details as to how the policy assumption process is managed within the TSM itself, along with some previous examples, can be found in both the 2016/17 TSM and the accompanying user guide.

Languages: Teachers

Baroness Coussins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they will take to reverse the shortfall of 21 per cent in the number of modern foreign language teachers, as calculated by the Department for Education's initial teacher training census for 2014–15.

Lord Nash: To support recruitment to languages Initial Teacher Training (ITT) in 2016/17, we have increased the bursary rates for postgraduate languages trainees on fee-based courses. Trainees with 2:1 degree classification will now receive £25,000 (up from £20,000 in 2015/16 in 2015/16) and those with a 2:2 will receive £20,000 (up from £15,000 in 2015/16).We offer potential languages trainees a range of support. The Premier Plus programme is available to candidates wanting to teach languages. This service includes support from a dedicated advisor; access to exclusive events; and regular communications with important news and application hints and tips. Languages candidates are also eligible for the funded School Experience Programme, helping them gain classroom experience to assist with their ITT application. Before they begin their training, languages applicants may benefit from funded Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) courses, through which they can improve either their first or their second additional language. Bursary support is also available for applicants undertaking an SKE course.Furthermore, we want to attract qualified languages teachers who wish to return to the profession. We have recently launched a new pilot programme designed to help schools to attract and support returning teachers; this includes funding for returning language teachers. We will be undertaking a national marketing campaign to support this initiative.

Languages: Teachers

Baroness Coussins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what policy assumptions have been fed into the teacher supply model to inform the initial teacher training target for teachers of modern foreign languages.

Lord Nash: The Department for Education published the Teacher Supply Model (TSM) on 14 October 2015. The publications are attached and can also be found online at the following address: www.gov.uk/government/publications/teacher-supply-modelThe underlying assumptions are included in the accompanying User Guide and the model itself.



Teacher_Supply_Model_User_Guide
(PDF Document, 607.54 KB)




Teacher_Supply_Model_Part_1
(Excel SpreadSheet, 5.64 MB)




Teacher_Supply_Model_Part_2
(Excel SpreadSheet, 1.24 MB)

Languages: Teachers

Baroness Coussins: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will extend the current additional financial incentives for modern foreign language teachers in secondary schools to language specialists entering the teaching profession in primary schools.

Lord Nash: Financial incentives for initial teacher training (ITT) are designed to attract applicants to certain subjects. We have increased bursaries for secondary languages ITT trainees for 2016/17 in response to growing demand.We have no current plans to extend these generous financial incentives for secondary language trainees to primary trainees. Primary ITT courses continue to be popular with applicants, and we are confident that we can recruit enough trainees nationally to meet need at the bursary rates announced for 2016/17.

Ministry of Justice

Open Prisons

Lord Bradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people serving (1) life sentences, and (2) imprisonment for public protection sentences, were authorised by the Parole Board for transfer to open prison conditions in each month since January 2013.

Lord Bradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people serving (1) life sentences, and (2) imprisonment for public protection sentences, were transferred from closed to open prison conditions following authorisation by the Parole Board in each month since January 2013.

Lord Faulks: The table below gives a breakdown of the number of indeterminate sentence prisoners who were recommended by the Parole Board for transfer to open conditions.The data covers the period from 1 January 2013 to 31 October 2015, broken down by month, and distinguish between those serving a life sentence and those serving an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment for public protection.These figures have been drawn from a live administrative IT system which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.JanFebMarAprilMayJuneJulyAugSeptOctNovDecTotals2013Open Recommendations made by PB:IPP576266736978616867606454779Lifer594840485151464337474127538Approved for Transfer:IPP525859607065777663744780781Lifer3863444053385848385033475502014Open Recommendations made by PB:IPP626841745449694835445048642Lifer443131283633402817243824374Approved for Transfer:IPP654674453826544341644846590Lifer3034392115202323283120293132015Open Recommendations made by PB:IPP61474948465638323332N/AN/A442Lifer39282825253822232433N/AN/A285Approved for Transfer:IPP57415440426355343535N/AN/A456Lifer31163626163335242222N/AN/A261

Magistrates

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the breakdown of the lay magistracy by socio-economic profile.

Lord Faulks: No information is recorded which would give an accurate indication of magistrates’ socio-economic status.

Magistrates' Courts

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) lay magistrates, (2) deputy district judges, and (3) district judges, are sitting in the magistrates courts.

Lord Faulks: As at 1 April 2015, when the latest annual appointments statistics for the judiciary were published, there were 19,634 magistrates, 115 deputy district judges (magistrates’ courts) and 138 district judges (magistrates' courts) serving in England and Wales. These figures are published on the Judiciary website.

Judiciary: Equality

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what efforts they have made to promote diversity in the composition of the judiciary by reference to (1) socio-economic status, (2) ethnicity, (3) gender, and (4) age.

Lord Faulks: The Government fully supports a more diverse judiciary and has taken steps to improve representation, whilst still appointing the best people for the job.In Courts and Tribunals the representation of women has risen to 32.3% of the judiciary, compared to 28.8% in 2012. Black Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) representation has risen to 7.4 % from 6.8% over the same period.The Government works with its partners in the judiciary, the Judicial Appointments Commission and the legal professions through the Judicial Diversity Forum to take action to increase the diversity of the judiciary at all levels.Recent initiatives include:Supporting the judiciary in the implementation of the ‘New Route to the High Court’ scheme. This offered high quality candidates support to apply for a Deputy High Court Judge selection exercise launched in July 2015. As this programme was aimed at encouraging diversity, places on this support scheme were limited to women, BAME candidates and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.Holding outreach events, targeted at under-represented groups, such as ‘Women in the Judiciary: Making it happen’.This work builds on significant legislative changes which:Introduced the equal merit provision into the final stage of the judicial appointments process, which allows diversity, in terms of gender and ethnicity, to be taken into account when two applicants are of equal merit. This has already been applied in seven JAC recommendations between October 2014 and March 2015;Extended salaried part-time working to the High Court and above to increase flexibility and make it easier to balance home and work life; andIntroduced a statutory duty for the Lord Chancellor and Lord Chief Justice to encourage judicial diversity.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits

Lord Inglewood: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when the social security benefits budget last had a clean and unqualified audit report from the NAO.

Lord Freud: It is the DWP consolidated resource account (not budget) that is audited each year by NAO.In his certificate of the 2014/15 accounts the Comptroller and Auditor General stated to the House of Commons that, in his opinion, the Department’s financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of the Department’s and the Departmental Group’s affairs as at 31 March 2015.The consolidated resource account has been given a qualified regularity opinion in each of the years that it has been audited (since 1999-00) because of the level of fraud and error in certain benefits.The qualification is due to material amounts of fraud & error in benefit expenditure. In the 14/15 accounts this was estimated at 1.9% of benefit expenditure, the eventual outturn was 1.8%.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to improve social support for unemployed young people, in particular in adapting to changing technology.

Lord Freud: As our Manifesto said, we are committed to abolishing long-term youth unemployment and ensuring that young people are either earning or learning.DWP provides a broad range of additional support, over and above the standard Jobcentre Plus offer, to all young people on benefit, which is tailored to their needs. Through the Youth Obligation, from day 1 young people will participate in an intensive support regime equipping them with the skills to not only find a job but build capability to sustain work, and after 6 months they will be supported to apply for an apprenticeship, traineeship, gain work skills or go on a work placement. In addition, if needed, young people already receive support to help them to make and manage their claims on-line and to acquire and improve their digital skills.

Home Office

Visas

Lord Green of Deddington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the minimum salary required of a Tier 2 (General) visa applicant in order to be allocated a Certificate of Sponsorship in each of the last 24 months.

Lord Bates: The minimum salary threshold for Tier 2 (General) rises annually in line with UK wage inflation. It was £20,300 from 2013/14, £20,500 in 2014/15 and £20,800 in 2015/16. Additionally, for a Certificate of Sponsorship to be allocated, the employer (the sponsor) must be paying the appropriate salary rate for the occupation in question. These rates are set out in Appendix J of the Immigration Rules: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-j-codes-of-practice-for-skilled-work.Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship are subject to an annual limit and are allocated to sponsoring employers each month. The limit was undersubscribed until June 2015 and so all valid applications for Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship were granted, where the salary was at least equal to the minimum thresholds above.If the limit is oversubscribed, as it has been since June, applications for Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship are prioritised using a points table. Points are awarded for shortage occupations, PhD-level occupations, and salary. The minimum salaries for successful applications since June are shown in the table below:MonthMinimum salary for successful applicationsShortage occupationsPhD-level occupationsOther occupationsJune 2015£20,800£20,800£46,000July 2015£20,800£20,800£32,000August 2015£20,800£20,800£24,000September 2015£20,800£20,800£27,000October 2015£20,800£20,800£22,000

Immigration Act 2014

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will amend the gov.uk website to reflect the changes made by the Immigration Act 2014 to the British Nationality Act 1981; and whether they will also cause legislation.gov.uk to be updated accordingly.

Lord Bates: Section 65 of the Immigration Act 2014 was commenced on 6 April 2015 and inserted new registration provisions into the British Nationality Act 1981 for persons born before 1 July 2006 to British fathers. Information about this is published on the Gov.UK website at: https://www.gov.uk/register-british-citizen/born-before-2006-british-father.The National Archives is bringing all the primary legislation on legislation.gov.uk up to date. The British Nationality Act 1981 (c. 61) is up to date to the end of 2009. A further 50 subsequent amendments affecting this Act have been identified. A fully revised version, including the effects by the Immigration Act 2014 (c. 22), will be published and available by the end of 2015.

Refugees: Calais

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of (1) how many refugees are currently around Calais waiting for an opportunity to travel to the United Kingdom, and (2) how many of those refugees are (a) accompanied, and (b) unaccompanied, children; what assessment they have made of the problems that the onset of winter might cause those refugees; and what additional measures they will take to help to address those problems.

Lord Bates: The management of the migrant camps in Calais is the responsibility of the French Government. The French Government has recently stated that there are approximately 6,000 migrants living in makeshift camps in the Calais area. The UK Government does not routinely assess the numbers of migrants in Calais or hold a breakdown of the ages of migrants.The UK Government is working to decrease the opportunities available for migrants to enter the UK illegally by investing tens of millions of pounds to bolster security infrastructure in Calais as part of a major programme of work in close collaboration with the French Government to improve security in the area. Alongside this, the French Government has opened up thousands of new places in its asylum system encouraging migrants to claim asylum in France and not travel to the UK.The French Government is responsible for the care of migrants in Calais, including support over the winter. However, both governments are committed to finding a sustainable solution to the situation in Calais. The UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015 committed the UK to providing £3.6 million (or €5 million) per year for two years to help support a range of work to manage the migrant population in Calais, in particular to provide support and facilities elsewhere in France. Additionally, the UK has provided £530,000 (or €750,000) to fund the France Terre d’Asile Project to identify those in the camps who are especially vulnerable and at risk of trafficking and exploitation, and to provide them with appropriate support within the French system.

Refugees: Sexual Offences

Lord Greaves: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they are taking to help to prevent sexual predators taking advantage of refugees, including children, (1) in the UK, and (2) in the rest of Europe.

Lord Bates: Any child who arrives in the UK unaccompanied, either as a result of resettlement or via another route, would be expected to receive the same protection and support as a child who is resident in the UK, under the provisions set out in the Children Act 1989, as amended, and related statutory guidance.In Europe, the UK, through the Department for International Development, has committed funding to humanitarian organisations which are working to assist and protect vulnerable people, including children.This includes funding to the Red Cross, UNHCR, the International Organisation for Migration, as well as humanitarian NGOs working in southern Europe and the Balkans. These programmes have specific activities which identify unaccompanied children to ensure that they are referred to appropriate services, including psychosocial support and child-friendly safe spaces.

Refugees

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to enable refugees from the Middle East and other war zones who have close family connections with the UK to come to this country safely to apply for protection.

Lord Bates: There is no provision in our Immigration Rules for someone to be given permission to travel to the UK to seek asylum or humanitarian protection. However, we recognise that families may become fragmented because of the nature of conflict and persecution and the speed and manner in which those seeking asylum often flee their country of origin. Our refugee family reunion policy allows immediate family members of a person in the UK with refugee leave or humanitarian protection status - that is a spouse or partner and children under the age of 18, who formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country of origin - to reunite with them in the UK.We also operate three discretionary resettlement schemes for recognised refugees for whom resettlement is the most appropriate answer. We operate these schemes in partnership with the UNHCR: Gateway; Mandate; and the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation (VPR) scheme. Under the Syrian VPR Scheme we are working closely with the UNHCR to resettle close family groups where at least one member qualifies under the scheme.We are also making a significant contribution to support refugees and their families in other ways. The UK has contributed over £1 billion in humanitarian aid in response to the Syrian crisis and we intend to resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees displaced to neighbouring countries over the lifetime of this Parliament.

Welfare in Detention of Vulnerable Persons Review

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they expect to publish the Shaw review into the welfare of vulnerable persons in immigration detention.

Lord Bates: On 9 February, the Home Secretary announced an independent review into the policies and operating procedures that have an impact on detainee welfare. Stephen Shaw CBE, the former Prisons and Probation Ombudsman for England and Wales, has completed the review and has recently submitted his report. His findings are being carefully considered. The report will be published by laying it before Parliament, alongside the Government’s response to the recommendations. We want to ensure that this is before the Immigration Bill completes its passage through Parliament.

Police: Biometrics

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many faces have been uploaded onto the police facial recognition database since the ruling against the Metropolitan Police Service in 2012; which police forces made those uploads; and how many faces each force has uploaded.

Lord Bates: There is no facial recognition database as such. The Police National Database (PND) includes photographs of persons taken on their arrest. These images can be uploaded onto the PND by police forces.Full face images of a suitable size and quality are then enrolled in the facial image recognition gallery within PND, which can be searched using automated facial recognition software. Information on the number of facial images loaded by forces since June 2012 is not readily available

Police: Biometrics

Lord Scriven: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have carried out to determine whether the police facial recognition database complies with the Data Protection Act 1998; and what were the findings of that review.

Lord Bates: There is no facial recognition database as such. The Police National Database (PND) includes photographs of persons taken on their arrest. These images can be uploaded onto the PND by police forces. Full face images of a suitable size and quality are then enrolled in the facial image recognition gallery within the PND, which can be searched using automated facial recognition software. As set out by the Code of Practice on the Operation and Use of the PND, chief police officers are responsible for the development and implementation of appropriate procedures and systems so that personal data is processed in accordance with the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998 and other relevant legislation and guidance.

Visas: Overseas Students

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact that the current visa regime has had on international student numbers in the UK.

Lord Bates: The student migration system we inherited was too weak, and open to widespread abuse, damaging the UK’s reputation as a provider of world-class education.We have clamped down on immigration abuse from poor quality institutions selling immigration rather than education, and since 2010 we have struck off more than 900 bogus colleges. Visa applications for the further education sector, where abuse has been most prevalent over recent years, are down 74 per cent compared with 2010.At the same time, we have maintained a highly competitive offer for international students who would like to study at our world-class institutions. This is borne out by the figures: visa applications from international students to study at British universities are up by 17 per cent since 2010, whilst visa applications to our world-leading Russell Group institutions are up by 33 per cent since 2010.We will continue to reform the student visa system to tackle abuse and deliver an effective immigration system that works in the national interest.

Visas: Overseas Students

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government in which countries credibility interviews of potential international students were undertaken by UK Visas and Immigration in (1) 2013, (2) 2014, and (3) 2015.

Lord Bates: UK Visas and Immigration interviewed applicants resident in the following countries for Tier 4 Student visa applications:2015: Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Colombia, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tunisia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.2014: Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Colombia, DRC, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Libya, Lebanon, Morocco, Mongolia, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tunisia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.2013: Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Uganda, Ukraine, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Bahrain, China and Bangladesh.

Visas: Overseas Students

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which were the 10 countries in which the highest number of interviews for potential international students in the UK took place, and what were the subsequent refusal rates for each country in (1) 2013, (2) 2014, and (3) 2015.

Lord Bates: The top 10 countries, in descending order, in which Tier 4 Student applications were undertaken and the subsequent refusal rates can be found in table to below:2015 (Jan-Jun)NationalityRefusal rateCHINA3%NIGERIA14%SAUDI ARABIA4%INDIA16%TANZANIA17%PAKISTAN41%TUNISIA31%TURKEY6%BRAZIL8%VIETNAM15%2014NationalityRefusal rateCHINA2%INDIA14%NIGERIA16%SAUDI ARABIA7%PAKISTAN31%THAILAND3%BRAZIL3%RUSSIA7%TURKEY5%BANGLADESH26%2013NationalityRefusal rateCHINA2%INDIA18%NIGERIA19%PAKISTAN40%SAUDI ARABIA7%THAILAND2%RUSSIA8%TURKEY8%UNITED ARAB EMIRATES1%BANGLADESH22%

Refugees: Syria

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking to help Syrian refugees in the "Jungle" camp at Calais who are in need of advice about applying to the UK for asylum.

Lord Bates: A joint communications campaign, involving British officials speaking to migrants in Calais, has been taking place to inform migrants of the reality of life in the UK and of their rights to claim asylum in France. The frequency of these campaigns has been increased in line with the commitment in the UK-France Joint Declaration of 20 August 2015.

Immigration: Greece

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are discussing with the government of Greece ways to secure better documentation of refugees and migrants in transit through that country; and whether they intend to support any application to the EU for funds for this purpose.

Lord Bates: The UK has provided significant support to Greece on migration and asylum, both bilaterally and through the EU Agencies that are supporting operations in particular in the Aegean. The Government has every intention of continuing to engage with, and assist, the Greek government in their efforts to re-establish effective systems and structures, not least to ensure the registration of all migrants upon arrival, including improving Greece’s capacity to absorb the EU funding that was allocated over the summer. Further EU support must be focused on helping Greece to take control of the situation and implement the measures they have agreed to.

Asylum: Cyprus

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have refused to interview and assess some of the boat people who arrived at the British Sovereign base in Cyprus; whether they plan to deport them as individuals to Lebanon; and what assessment they have made of whether deporting those individuals to Lebanon would be an instance of refoulement.

Lord Bates: Under an existing agreement with the Republic of Cyprus, those who claim asylum will be processed by the Cypriot authorities on behalf of the Sovereign Base.Those migrants who do not claim asylum and have no other basis on which to remain, face removal to their country of origin or Lebanon.

Asylum

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether British missions in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Italy, Greece, and other countries have received applications for family reunion and asylum in Britain; and if so, what action they have taken to respond to them.

Lord Bates: Applications for family reunion visas can be made in Visa Application Centres across the globe. There are such centres in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Italy and Greece. Should any mission receive queries about applying for a family reunion visa the applicant will be directed to the online application process. UKVI aims to decide all family reunion visa applications within 12 weeks of submission as per it’s customer services standard.An individual must be in the UK to claim asylum. There is no obligation on the UK to consider applications or enquiries made on behalf of people abroad about asylum in the UK and there is no provision in the Immigration Rules for someone to be given permission to travel to the UK to seek asylum.

EU Immigration

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will discuss with the government of Turkey measures to slow the rate at which refugees and migrants leave Turkey, and the feasibility of their having European interviews before they leave that country.

Lord Bates: The Government has strong bilateral relations with Turkey and regularly discusses a number of issues, including migration. The Government recently announced that the UK will resettle 20,000 Syrian refugees over the lifetime of this Parliament – this will include a number from Turkey. The Government supports Turkey’s efforts to manage the flow of illegal migration, and maintain an effective border between Turkey and the EU. Turkey is responsible for refugees on its territory and EU Member States are responsible for interviewing and deciding asylum claims lodged on their territories. There are no plans to create a mechanism to allow asylum interviews to be conducted in Turkey on behalf of EU countries.

Community Relations

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any assessment of whether there are tensions between the British Pakistani/Kashmiri community and the British Indian/Hindu community in (1) London, and (2) Leicester.

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether there are any tensions within the South Asian community in the UK due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to London.

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have received any communications regarding a demonstration planned by the Awaaz Network against the visit to London by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Lord Bates: The operational policing of protests and demonstrations are principally a matter for Chief Officers of each force in England and Wales. As is the case with visits of this nature, careful plans have been put in place to ensure the safety and security of the visit by the Prime Minister of India, in discussion with the Indian High Commission. The right to peaceful protest is guaranteed under UK law and we respect protesters’ rights to express their views peacefully. As part of the planning for the visit the police will have assessed any issues which could give rise to public disorder and will have factored this into their planning accordingly.

HM Treasury

Infrastructure

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what the roles and responsibilities of the National Infrastructure Commission and Infrastructure UK are, to whom they report, and what overlaps there are between them, if any.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The National Infrastructure Commission is an independent advisory body, currently operating on an interim basis. It will deliver a long-term plan and assessment of national infrastructure needs and publish advice on specific infrastructure issues. The Commission reports to the Chancellor.Infrastructure UK is a specialist unit within the Treasury that works on the UK’s long-term infrastructure priorities and secures private sector investment. It provides commercial support for infrastructure projects, administers the UK Guarantee Scheme, and reviews and refines the way that Public Private Partnerships are run in the UK. Infrastructure UK reports to the Commercial Secretary to the Treasury and to the Treasury Permanent Secretary.

Private Finance Initiative

Baroness Walmsley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what calculation they have made of how much (1) UK tax has been paid by PFI investors on profits and equity gains, and (2) corporation tax has been collected from PFI companies, in each tax year since the inception of PFI contracts for health service projects.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: HM Treasury does not collect or publish taxation information for any Private Finance company including those within the health sector.

Private Finance Initiative

Baroness Walmsley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether in assessing the benefits of PFI against conventional procurement they take account of the amount of UK tax paid by PFI investors, as recommended by the Public Accounts Committee in its report of 2011 Lessons from PFI and other projects.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: In its response to the Public Accounts Committee report, the Government made clear that it did not agree with the Committee’s conclusion and recommendation.As set out in the response, HM Treasury stated that the initial appraisal of a project takes into account the additional tax receipts that arise from the use of a privately funded project, compared to a publicly funded project.Managing Public Money directs procuring authorities to ensure that procurement decisions do not rely on any tax advantage that a particular bid may enjoy because of the tax status of the proposed contactor. Any privately financed option will only be pursued if it is better value for money than the publicly funded alternative.The Treasury’s full response can be found on the gov.uk website.

Private Finance Initiative

Baroness Walmsley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have introduced arrangements for sharing gains on the sale of PFI equity shares in new PFI projects, as recommended by the Public Accounts Committee in its report of 2011 Lessons from PFI and other projects.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: In its response to the Public Accounts Committee’s report, the Government has made clear that it does not agree that it would be desirable to seek a share of gains arising from the sale of shares in existing contracts. There would be a significant negative impact on the confidence of investors, particularly foreign investors, in the UK market and new investment in UK infrastructure would be discouraged.The Treasury’s full response can be found at on the gov.uk website.

Non-domestic Rates

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of increasing business rates on retailers' capacity to tackle low pay.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The Government recognises that business rates represent a fixed cost which can be more burdensome during times of economic difficulty. It is currently considering the impact of business rates on the retail sector as part of the ongoing business rates review. The review will complete by the end of the year.Further, the Chancellor recently set out major plans to devolve new powers from Whitehall to local areas to promote growth and prosperity. This includes giving councils the power to reduce business rates to support businesses in their area.

Cabinet Office

Electoral Register

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which organisations have received government funding to assist their efforts to compile a complete electoral register.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The Government provided £14 million across 2013/14 and 2014/15 to support the costs of activities at a local and national level to maximise the number of people on the electoral register. This includes allocating funding to local authorities and national organisations.The following organisations received funding to target under registered groups:Active Citizens FEBite the BallotBritish Youth CouncilCitizens AdviceCitizens UKGingerbreadOperation Black VoteThe Hansard SocietyHomeless LinkNational Association of Managers of Student ServiceNational Union of StudentsScottish Youth ParliamentSixth Form Colleges AssociationThe Royal Mencap SocietyThe Student RoomThe TabUK YouthUpRisingvInspired

Freedom of Information

Baroness Walmsley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they define "commercial confidentiality" and "exceptional circumstances" in relation to restrictions on FOI requests relating to private companies that provide public services.

Lord Bridges of Headley: Requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 are considered on a case by case basis. Section 43 of the Act sets out the circumstances in which information is exempt from disclosure on grounds of commercial interests.

Department of Health

Cancer: Drugs

Lord Avebury: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which drugs have been delisted from the Cancer Drugs Fund; how many patients are currently being treated with each drug; and what steps they are taking to develop a new system for prescribing each drug.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Details of the drugs removed from the national Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) list following re-prioritisation are shown in tables 1 and 2. The latest version of the list is available on NHS England’s website at: www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/. A copy is attached.Table 1: Confirmation of previously notified drugs and indications delisted on 12 March 2015DrugIndication removedAflibercept2nd line in combination with irinotecan-based combination chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancerBendamustineTreatment of patients with indolent non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma who are refractory to rituximabBevacizumab1st line in combination with oxaliplatin–based combination chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancerBevacizumab1st line in combination with irinotecan–based combination chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancerBevacizumab1st line in combination with single agent fluoropyrimidine–based chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer.BevacizumabIn combination with carboplatin and gemcitabine chemotherapy for recurrent platinum sensitive ovarian cancerBortezomibRe-treatment in patients with relapsed myelomaBortezomibTreatment of patients with relapsed Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinaemiaBortezomibTreatment of patients with relapsed mantle cell lymphomaBosutinibTreatment of blast phase chronic myeloid leukaemiaCetuximab2nd line in combination with irinotecan chemotherapy for metastatic colorectal cancer in patients with RAS wild type (non-mutated) tumoursDasatinibTreatment of the lymphoid blast phase of chronic myeloid leukaemiaEverolimusTreatment of progressive unresectable or metastatic well differentiated neuroendocrine tumour of the pancreasLapatinibIn combination with capecitabine chemotherapy for HER-2 receptor positive locally advanced or metastatic breast cancerOfatumumabTreatment of relapsed or refractory chronic lymphatic leukaemiaPazopanibTreatment of previously treated metastatic non-adipocytic soft tissue sarcomasPegylated liposomal doxorubicin1st or 2nd line chemotherapy of angiosarcomaPegylated liposomal doxorubicinChemotherapy of primary malignant sarcomas of the heart and great vesselsSource: National Cancer Drugs Fund List Ver 6.0Table 2: Confirmation of previously notified drugs and indications delisted on 4 November 2015DrugIndication removedAlbumin bound PaclitaxelFirst line treatment of advanced adenocarcinoma of the pancreas in combination with GemcitabineBendamustine2nd or subsequent line treatment of chronic lymphatic leukaemia for patients whom fludarabine combination therapy is not a therapeutic optionBendamustine2nd and subsequent line of treatment of mantle cell lymphoma in patients who have not received previous BendamustineBevacizumabTreatment of patients with triple negative metastatic breast cancer and/or prior Taxane therapyBevacizumab2nd or 3rd line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer in combination with standard chemotherapy in patients who have not previously received BevacizumabBosutinibTreatment of chronic phase CML refractory to Nilotinib or DasatinibBosutinibTreatment of accelerated phase CML refractory to Nilotinib or DasatinibBosutinibTreatment of accelerated phase CML where there is significant intolerance to Dasatinib and Nilotinib.Cetuximab3rd and subsequent line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer as a single agentCetuximab3rd and subsequent line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer as a single agent in patients not treated to progression under NICE TA176DasatinibTreatment of adults with Philadelphia chromosome positive (Ph+) acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) with resistance or intolerance to prior therapy including ImatinibEverolimus2nd or 3rd line treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma where disease has progressed on or after treatment with VEGF-targeted therapyLenalidomide2nd line treatment of multiple myeloma in patients who have contraindications to the use of BortezomibPanitumumab3rd and subsequent line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer as a single agentPanitumumab3rd and subsequent line treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer as a single agent in patients not treated to progression under NICE TA176Pegylated Liposomal Doxorubicin2nd line treatment of FibromatosisPeptide Receptor Radionucleotide Therapy (Lutetium177 Octreotate or Yttrium90 Octreotide/Octreotate)Treatment of advanced neuro-endocrine tumours i.e. for pNETS after Sunitinib/chemotherapy, for mid-gut carcinoid, after octreotide/somatostatin therapies.PomalidomideTreatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma in patients who have received at least 2 prior treatment regimens, including both lenalidomide and bortezomib, and have demonstrated disease progression on the last therapySource: National Cancer Drugs Fund List Ver 6.0NHS England publishes information on the number of patient applications for particular drugs/indications contained on the national CDF list on a quarterly basis. This information also includes the number of applications approved through the individual CDF request process. The latest information isattached as it is too long to be included in this answer. It is also available at:www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/pe/cdf/ and a copy of this is also attached.The Government is committed to the CDF and is working with NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence on the future arrangements for the Fund.



Cancer Drugs Fund List
(PDF Document, 361.03 KB)




CDF Reporting template
(Excel SpreadSheet, 184.54 KB)




Patient Numbers
(Word Document, 51.12 KB)

Health Professions: Migrant Workers

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have held with other EU member states about whether the Recognition of Professional Qualifications Directive provides sufficient safeguards to allow regulators to assure themselves that migrant healthcare professionals have kept their skills and competence up-to-date.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The revised Directive was negotiated between Member States including the United Kingdom over a number of years before its publication in the Official Journal in 2013. A copy of the Directive is attached.The main aim of the Directive is to increase freedom of movement of professions across the European Union by providing a framework for the regulatory bodies to consider a professional’s qualification. If a professional’s qualifications are of the standard recognised across Europe they are deemed to be of sufficient quality. Ifhowever a professional’s qualification does not meet the minimum standards set out across Europe the regulator can require them to undertake further training to improve their skills and competence before being permitted to practise in the UK.Individual employers also have a responsibility to ensure that the people they employ or contract with have the required knowledge and skills and qualifications for the posts for which they are applying.Once a professional has been registered with the regulatory body they must adhere to the same requirements as UK registrants including continuing professional development and revalidation (for doctors and nurses) to ensure that they remain fit to practice.

Speech Therapy

Baroness Uddin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current availability of qualified speech therapists at the point of assessment throughout the NHS and community healthcare provision.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Health and Social Care Information Centre annual census data shows that as at 30 September 2014, there were 6,207 full time equivalent speech and language therapists working in the National Health Service in England, this is a rise of 2% since May 2010.Health Education England (HEE) and the Department of Health commissioned the Centre for Workforce Intelligence (CfWI) to undertake a stock take of the speech and language therapists workforce in England. The CfWI published Securing the future workforce supply - Speech and language therapy stocktake, in December 2014. A copy of this is attached. The stocktake investigated the current balance of demand and supply for speech and language therapists and explored how this is expected to change by 2025, including those working in the public and private sector.HEE has increased the number of speech and language therapist training places in 2015-16 to 668, an increase of 3.7% over 2014-15. HEE will take the content of the CfWI speech and language therapy stocktake into account in their workforce planning and future commissioning decisions.



CfWI SLT stocktake report
(PDF Document, 2.02 MB)

Speech Therapy: Recruitment

Baroness Uddin: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the current levels of speech therapists recruited from diverse minority communities.

Lord Prior of Brampton: Data from the NHS Hospital and Community Health Services shows that of the 7,836 speech and language therapists (headcount) employed in England as at 30 September 2014, 5.4% are from an ethnic minority background.We are aware that we need to do more to encourage individuals from a black and minority ethnic background into this rewarding profession. Health Education England (HEE) is committed to meeting its duties under the Equality Act 2010 and is working with external partners to continuously develop their education and training commission’s activities to ensure they are inclusive to all of the whole population.NHS England is working with partners on the Equality and Diversity Council, NHS Employers, the Leadership Academy and HEE to co-ordinate work in the areas of values based recruitment and talent management to ensure that we can aspire to having a representative workforce at all levels.We welcome the work that the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists are currently conducting with schools and career fairs in promoting speech and language therapists as a rewarding profession for all, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability and age.

NHS Foundation Trusts

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the future role of NHS Foundation Trusts in the NHS.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether NHS Improvement will consider further applications from NHS trusts to become foundation trusts.

Lord Prior of Brampton: We will continue to discuss the role of foundation trusts (FTs) in the National Health Service with the leaders of NHS Improvement as the organisation moves to a more aligned approach to the regulation and oversight of FTs and NHS trusts.The clinical and economic sustainability of all trusts is of paramount importance, and NHS Improvement will continue to support NHS providers to determine the most appropriate means of securing their long-term future.The NHS Trust Development Authority is continuing to refer organisations to Monitor for FT authorisation decisions. No decisions have yet been made about how this activity will be undertaken by NHS Improvement from 1 April 2016.

Herbal Medicine: Regulation

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to delay publication of their response to the Herbal Medicines and Practitioners Working Group until they have met representatives of the herbal profession to discuss the outcome of that report.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Government does not intend to delay publication of its response. The Report on the Regulation of Herbal Medicines and Practitioners is Professor Walker’s independent advice to Government. Prominent members of the herbals sector were members of the Herbal Medicines and Practitioners Working Group and, as the Report acknowledges, this advice was informed by the input of this Group.

Herbal Medicine: Regulation

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to take account of the reported views of several members of the Herbal Medicines and Practitioners Working Group that weak evidence was used to support the conclusions of the March report by Professor Walker on the regulation of herbal medicines and practitioners that there is no credible evidence base for herbal medicine and no rationale for accrediting training courses in that field.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Herbal Medicines and Practitioners Working Group, Chaired by Professor Walker, was an independent Group with a clear remit. The internal workings of the Group, and the evidence it considered when carrying out the various strands of its work, was for the Group and its Chair to determine. The Government will review the recommendations of the report and provide its response in due course.

Herbal Medicine: Regulation

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Prior of Brampton on 2 November (HL2987 and HL2988), what assessment they have made, if any, of whether the Chairman of the Herbal Medicines and Practitioners Working Group ignored the agreed terms of reference of that group by publishing his report without consulting the members of that group, and if so, why.

Lord Prior of Brampton: As the Herbal Medicines and Practitioners Working Group was an independent Group, governance arrangements and internal mechanisms were a matter for the Chair and its members to resolve. The remit of the Group was to consider the issues around herbal medicines and herbal practitioners, and report in 2015 with recommendations on the way forward. The overall remit was met.

Care Homes

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what information they hold on the occupancy levels of registered care homes in the last five years for which information is available.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Social Services: Living Wage

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimates they have made of the impact of the National Living Wage on registered care providers, both domiciliary and residential, in the first year of the National Living Wage's introduction; and whether they will classify the National Living Wage as a new burden on local authorities for which they should receive grant increases to pay care providers.

Lord Prior of Brampton: The Department has engaged with the social care sector, including care providers, to understand how the introduction of the National Living Wage will affect them. The overall costs to local authorities of providing social care are being considered as part of the Spending Review.